How to Prep Your Garden Beds for the Season

This week on The Gals Who Grow podcast, we're talking about something that most people either forget completely or don't pay too much attention to when it comes to getting the garden going:  How to prep your garden beds before you plant them up!  

There's a little more to it than plopping your fresh plants in the ground if you really want to grow the garden of your dreams, so we're walking you through what has brought us success throughout the years.  

Grab your notepad and get ready to have the healthiest plants you've ever had!  

https://www.instagram.com/thegalswhogrow/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, I'm Monica with Lululu the A Fields. And I'm Cassie with Coppertop Gardens. And I'm Bailey with How Home and Garden. We have been cultivating our gardens and farms for years now, but something really special was sowed when we met and began working together.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Our shared passion for growing the best local flowers and food has made us realize the impact it's had in not only our own homes, but also in our local community.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

We are the gals who grow, and we can't wait to inspire you to grow too.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Hey friends. Hello. Hi. Welcome back. We are back with the Gals Who Grow podcast again. And this week we are talking about how to prep our garden beds before we plant in them. Because it's about time. It can really set you up for some success. And it is time.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Yep. So there's nothing worse than putting plants into year old soil and hoping that they take off.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

I tell you, friends, you can do it, but it might not bear the results you're hoping for. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

You can definitely get way better plants, way healthier plants if you prep accordingly.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

And it's it's really not that hard. You can buy these things for cheapish. Yeah. If you've already oh yeah. Okay. So let's start at the beginning. So first off, let's talk about maybe you started a new garden bed and you either need to put some type of loose soil on top if you're doing in ground or if you're filling a raised bed. I have made the mistake before when I was growing cut flowers and it like ruined my season. Um bought some bagged organic soil from the store. I honestly don't even remember the brand, so this is just something to like just look out for it. Um I dumped it out, I filled all my beds with it, and I was like, wow, this looks pretty dry. And I'm like, maybe it just needs maybe I just need to wet it down, whatever. Well, when I wet it down, it's like any small bit of soil matter that was in there washed away, and everything that was left was like a mulch-looking consistency. Oh my gosh. I had spent quite a bit of money on this soil, so I was like, whatever, we're gonna have to go with it. So I planted in it, and literally nothing grew. Even the sunflowers that I planted in it grew 12 inches. And their little heads when they finally bloomed were like the size of a quarter. It was awful. It was awful. And sunflowers, if you don't know, will grow pretty much frickin' anywhere. Yeah. So the problem with that soil was it really wasn't soil and it really wasn't compost. It was all filler, like wood chip additive, which is fine as a mulch. You don't remember what brand it was? I don't, because it was like three years ago and it's burned me every single like I just I can't go back to it. But it's there was no nutritional value in that bag soil. It was basically a mulch. Like, if I would have bought it and used it as a mulch, it would have been great.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

Do you think part of that is because it just sits out on a palette and probably gets like basically baked over and over? Probably.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

I I don't know. I have since found um really high quality like bagged compost that I really, really like.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Um remember the year that I did leaf mold? Yeah. Till it into all of my beds, and I thought it was gonna be great, and then nothing grew. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

But it is still good for your soil.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

It was still good for my soil, but I should have done that like what in the fall?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yeah. Yeah. So it's so that's why we're talking about this, is because there's a lot of misconceptions with like what you can put in your bed and and what will actually be good for it. What it's doing for your soil. So, like, for instance, the leaf mold is more of a aeration. Yep. It's a breaking heavy soils. Which is great. Like in a clean colour, in an area with clay. Yeah. Yeah. So it it's like a thing you do for like a year or two down the line, like which you did. It's great. Or like every fall, put some leaf mold on your bed and mold, break it up.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Yeah. I'm mol I'm mulching with leaf mold this year. Nice. But with keeping in mind that the plant is already planted. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

So when it so first the first things first, you make sure that if you're filling your bed, you're actually filling it with soil. Yep. Not wood chips. Yep. Um and then once you do that, so like once we plant, right, like compost. And people will say however much compost you can muster up that year is good. Yep. Anything is better than nothing. Um, I also like worm castings if I have it.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

Yeah. I'm also the thing is we I in the past have bought mixes of like so many bags of soil and then so many bads of compost, but this year we needed to top off so many beds that we've ordered a bulk mix of what is the planter mix from the local garden center near us. It looks good.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

I saw it out there. And Tiffany's. Shout out to Tiffany's.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

Um, it's and it's just a mixture of soil and compost, and it it is, it looks really healthy, and I was very happy with it. So, like, if you don't want to have to do the mix yourself, it they definitely sell planters mixes.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Look in bulk. And sometimes it saves you a lot of money. We I use that mix to fill my big, my tall garden bed in the back. Yeah. Um, it's been my best performing bed since I built it.

SPEAKER_03 5:20

So we also, I mean, we do have luck with the Costco uh organic mix.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

And I we're using the Tiffany's topsoil, which is not not great. Oh it's not great because to it's just like a plant. To plant directly not because ours are 15 inches top.

SPEAKER_03 5:40

Yeah, so you gotta fill with something else.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

So we have a layer of um mushroom blocks.

SPEAKER_03 5:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

That mushrooms were previously grown in.

SPEAKER_03 5:49

Which is a good additive that because uh fungal activity in your soil is really good for them. It brings it to life.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

We now have mushrooms growing everywhere in our garden. That's awesome. That's good. If you're wondering what anything is, I can tell you. Like moisture mushrooms growing. Oh my gosh. That's awesome. We don't pick them and eat them. You could, but I don't. Yeah. Um, but yeah, so we do the mushroom compost, the top soil, and then we're doing the organic um bag soil from Costco.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

Which is real it is really good soil. The only thing I struggle with is we have to go get it.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

It's expensive. It's expensive. It gets expensive.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

Yeah, we so before we bought the bulk, we started to top off some of the beds that I needed early with the Costco. And I I enjoy like it's good soil. I think that the plants are are great in it. It's just we bought ten bags and had to carry the bags in their car and back to our house, and it was just like, oh my gosh. It's a lot of transporting. It is a lot of transporting when we just bought five cubic yards of planter mix from Tiffany's and it got dropped off on our driveway. Yeah. And that's like it's the same thing, it just takes way less work of us. We just have to shovel it into a wheelbarrow and dump it onto the bed that we need it on.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

The big I mean, uh I'm I'm trying to help people who maybe are starting from nowhere. So, like perennials, right, can pretty much just go straight in the ground. You don't really need any to like amend the soil. You can, it depends on what it is. But for the most part, yeah, you can just dig a hole and put your native soil back and it'll be fine.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Maybe just throw some worm castings in the bottom. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

I usually do like an all-purpose fertilizer in the bottom of the hole and then fill it back in and whatever.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

Although I do think that um perennials do every once in a while benefit from topping up. In fact, every year I mulch my roses with compost.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Yeah, I think that's a great idea. Planting, though, if you're on a budget and the perennial was already expensive in and of itself, it will be okay. But then later, yes, compost is always the answer to everything. But if you're planting like vegetables or annual flowers, something that's like more tender, that's when you kind of need to like pay attention to the dirt that you're putting it in. A little bit more. Yeah. Um, if you want, like if you have big dreams of like giant tomato plants, you are going to need a fertilizer. An organic fertilizer. Yeah. And some compost, maybe some worm castings. Like just as much organic matter as you can get in around that plant.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

That's what you're gonna need. Yeah. Because that's what's inviting the worms and the other buggies to come in and move stuff around.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

And they they help fight off the bad things. Yep, they help nutrient uptake into the plant. So like there's so many benefits, but they hold moisture better. Yes. I just I remember it uh being a kid and like it's springtime, and it's like the thing to do to just go to the garden center and like get the plants, and then that's it. Yeah, and then you come home and you don't know any better, so you put them in whatever you got, yeah. And it just doesn't do anything, and it's just like disappointing. So we wanted to talk about that in this week's episode so that you get your plants because you are excited and that's great, but then they actually perform well for you. Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

And what are other like additives that you guys have used in the past? Like, I one time bought like a bag of um biochar, like for my actual indoor plants when I was like big into indoor plants.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Yeah, I just bought some liquid biochar and I'm gonna mess this up, but the guy told me that you have to make sure there's a certain oh gosh, it's there's a certain type of biochar that's been processed a certain way. Yeah. Because if it's not, then it will suck um you don't want it to take carbon out of your like the biochar.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Do you know what I'm talking about? Yes. I think it's so it has to be like charged.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Yes, that's what he said.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

It has to be charged in order for it to to actually benefit the soil instead of actually taking carbon from the So I bought liquid biochar.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Interesting. And so I'll add it, it's like a concentrate. I'll add it to water and then add it to my beds. Yeah. Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 10:08

You'll have to tell us how it goes because I'm I'm super.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Like shells this winter.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

And you gotta do a calcium feed?

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Gro I ground them up. I have some, but I then I like forgot about some and it smelled awful.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

And I was like, Is it the like the jadam method, the Korean farming?

SPEAKER_00 10:35

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Jenny Jenny Love talks about it on her podcast. The like of like a certain type of like compost tea that she does. You know that we actually have a trash can out there full of water with compost tea from like four years ago. It's probably actually not good at anymore.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

No, it's probably really good. You think so? Why wouldn't it be?

SPEAKER_03 10:55

I don't know. I'm that doesn't go back there, and I look at it and I go, do we open you?

SPEAKER_00 11:00

You have created a new pharmaceutical out there.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

That's what I said. It's like you have probably created an entire new life form that we don't know about.

SPEAKER_03 11:11

Yeah. I don't know. Or the or it's completely dried up. Like it could be that it completely dried out, you know.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

If I get any stinging nettle this year, I will be saving it in a bucket. Have you gotten stinging nettle before? Yes. Last year it came in my bagged compost. And I didn't I'd never touched it, didn't know what it was, never seen it. It got grabbed it. I remember that. Yeah. Oh, it stings. It stings. But it's really good compost tea making. I had never heard of it. Anybody getting it here. Here. Apparently, I mean it's like a thing. Yeah, it's a thing. It's around. But I had never seen it. I I had only heard British gardeners talk about it. Mm-hmm. And it showed up in my garden last year.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

I'm gonna try and um do some grass clippings this year. Yeah. And do the compost tea with grass clippings. I was thinking we just got rid of our our lawnmower that bagged stuff. So that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

That's what yeah, Joey's fixing mine to do mine. And I think what I'm gonna use with mine for is mulching. I think I'm gonna mulch my raised beds with the grass clippings.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

I may if I can run across like a Comfrey plant somewhere, I may buy one.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Um, I tried to grow from seed like four times. Yeah. What is it?

SPEAKER_01 12:20

A Comfrey?

SPEAKER_02 12:21

What's that?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

It's uh it's a medicinal plant. It's a perennial. Yeah, and it's like real good for compost tea making. It's really good for like literally everything. Everything.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

I've literally seen people um cut off the leaves and just put it as a mulch. Well, as a mulch under a plant, and it literally just decays in in place, and that's like an in-place fertilizer.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Or people will be like, oh my shoulders or my my shoulder, my elbow's hurting. She pointed to her elbow. Oh, my shoulder. Um, my elbow's hurting, so they just like put the leaf on there and like secure it somehow, and they're like, Wow, that I don't know how how like again, we're not doctors. I know, but this guy he swore by it. But I do know for a fact it makes fantastic fertilizer for your plants. So if I run across one, I will be buying one to try them. I literally have tried to grow from seed like four times. I don't know, but if I ever see one, I'm sure as heck swiping it up.

SPEAKER_03 13:21

So yeah, I don't know. Interesting. Like I feel like I probably have comfrey growing somewhere on my two acres from me like tossing out seeds thinking that I would get some. Yeah. And it's probably just out there and I just haven't looked recently.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

I'm trying to add some horse manure to some things special.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

Mycorrhizal fungi. I'm a bee. Maybe some of that. That is an additive that I definitely use.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Honestly, I feel like that's the reason why my raised beds did not last as long as they were supposed to, because I oh, you've been putting so much in there. That would make sense. Oh, you should see the beds. They're like eaten.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Mine are and it's got like the veining of all the fungus, like like the white, like lightning bolt-looking stuff. I'm like, oh, I think I did this.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

But my soil's great. You made it too nutritious. I did. I did, I did. Got eaten right through. But it's great for your plants. It helps reduce root shock or yeah, whatever. Plant shock when you're planting, and it just helps your plant just thrive and mycorrhizal fungi.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

Yep. If you have really, really dense soil, making sure you add like leaf mold is a great one. Um, they actually say that sand isn't that great to add to it. It makes it very heavy. It makes it really heavy.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

I did soil or I added sand in my gardens this year. It's I mean it's not like it's not bad.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

It's not bad.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Very little. Like three bags for a whole, I don't know how many square feet. Yeah. A large amount.

SPEAKER_03 14:49

That should be fine. Yeah. I think it's like, I think they just say like, don't count on that being what's gonna break up. Like leaf mold will do much more for you than what sand would do. Um I think drainage, I mean, I did add sand to the soil that I put lavender in, but it's like that's to like help it dry out faster rather than hold moisture. Yeah, it doesn't hold moisture.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

And it doesn't add any nutrients either. Yes, no nutrients. Yeah. That's just if if you're what I think about when I'm adding things is this gonna help my feed my plants and help the soil structure? Usually that's what makes me add the things.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

Oh my gosh. I was just thinking about this. So um another thing, like uh don't put dog poop in your pet like pet poop, but out in one of our little raised beds, a bunny has been using it as its litter box. So you're like not recognized, like two of our raised beds are full of bunny poop. And I was like, I didn't even know. Joey was like, I said, Yeah, we need to top these up, and he was like, Yeah, and we already have compost in there. And I was like, What? And he was like, Yeah, there's bunny poop in the top of that. No joke, it's covered. Like two of our raised beds were covered in bunny poop. Holy crap! And I'm I'm very curious as to how they do. I haven't decided what's gonna go into it. Rabbit poop is good for your soil.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Yes, it's some of the best. So we'll see. And llama poop, llama low.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

So I'm gonna top those up and then we're gonna plant into them, and I'm gonna just keep an eye out on how they do. I bet it's gonna go really well. We'll see. But yeah, so if you have like uh chickens or you know, although they say you should let things compost for a year before you use it, I'm just not gonna go and pick out bunny poop out of a bed before I plant into it. Sorry. It should be fine. Yeah, we're just gonna call it and hope that it does well.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

And then after you plant, if it's ideal to mulch around your plants with something, do I always do that? No.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Yeah, and it's been never do, but I'm going to this year.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Yeah, I think it helps. I plant pretty intensely. Like plants usually end up covering the soil. As long as the soil's covered, it really helps with the watering situation. Yes, it does. That's like the main thing. And to protect the soil life because the sun beating down on it is not good for the little guys in there. They just can't handle it. So the microbial life that I'm talking about. Yes. Yep. Sorry, not everyone knows what the little guys means.

SPEAKER_03 17:19

I'd say that, yeah, I think it's important to like it's not an instant thing. Like, soil health is not an instant thing. It takes a year or two.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Years.

SPEAKER_03 17:30

One of the first things Monica ever said to me when we met was, I said, Yeah, I've started to grow flowers. And she said, and your soil's gonna get better every year from here on. And I was like, Okay. You literally were like, I did. And your soil's only gonna get better. And I was like, Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Sure. I haven't thought about that, but uh, yeah. It's another reason to like like not only what are we adding, but what are we leaving, right? So you need to leave like every every spring. I'm like, why didn't I di why didn't I prep these beds in the fall? Yeah. And I know it drives my neighbors crazy that I don't prep things in the fall because it it's just dead all winter out there. Part of it though, you do want to leave. You leave for the beneficial bugs not only above ground but below ground. Yep. Because there's things in there that are eating away at that all winter long, and that's just adding to the good stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

If that wasn't there, they're gonna deplete what organic matter is left in your soil, and then you're back to square one.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

You know what else I'm gonna do in terms of leaving? From now on, when I clear beds, I'm cutting at the ground at the top of the soil and just tossing the top into the compost and leaving the roots. I never do that, even though I I want to. I think part of it is it's easier for me to grab and pull rather than cutting.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

It's faster.

SPEAKER_03 18:56

It's faster. But blossom, I was watching Blossom and Branch, and and literally a lot of her stuff, she like cuts and lays it down.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

That's what I've I've started doing that, and it really, really helps. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

So I think that's gonna be a goal of mine for this year, is like that's an additive that you're not paying for. No. It's literally just already in the garden. You already grew it.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Yeah, it already served its purpose for you. Now let it do its thing again for the soil. Like it's just a circle of life thing.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

And the roots, as they decay in place, like they're aerating your soil. So like the whole point of it is they're breaking up. If you have heavy clay soil, if you leave the roots there, then it's like breaking up the clay without you having to do any work, and the worms and everything get to stay there instead of you tilling it up.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Yep. So that's just so not so not the American way. I know it is. It's not a good thing. If it's not, if it's not pretty, it's gotta go. Yeah. And so, yeah. That is definitely something I'm trying to practice more, is just like leaving things where they're at.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Although I don't know. Wabi sabi. Wabi sabi. You guys feel a little bit like, I don't know, I kept seeing gardeners be like, Don't touch your gardens yet, don't touch your gardens yet, don't touch your gardens yet, things are still overwintering.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

And I'm like, at a certain point in time, I have to touch my gardens because also like what if you just cut it down and put it where it's at? I think that'd be fine. So like or if I'm moving if I'm moving all these things and putting them into my compost, are they still alive? Are they are the eggs still on I don't know. Yes, they are. Okay. Well that's what I don't throw mine in a trash. Yeah, I don't throw them in a trash. I put them in the compost, or if we're doing what Cassie's saying is like leaving them where they're at, or blossom or branches. I really think that those good good things above ground, could they get slightly damaged? Maybe. Maybe. But like I feel like once the dandelions are here, it's fair game. Because there's something for them to do that.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

And I was like, no, I A, I have too much space that if I have to wait until you all say it's good to go for me to remove the tops and then put mulch down, like it takes me days to do both. The bees are the bees are out, the bees are covering the bees. I was like, man, I can't wait any longer because my my perennials are A growing, B, I need to mulch, and mulching takes days, and so does weeding and removing the tops of these things.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

They have things to feed on now, so you're you should be fine.

SPEAKER_03 21:31

That's what I was okay. I was getting a little frustrated seeing people like, don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Okay, here's the other thing about social media that I noticed this year is I kept seeing this post this year that was like, We have now made it through the darkest part of winter. And it was like kept circulating and circulating and circulating. And I'm like, that's the Persephone period that they're talking about, and that sure shit has not happened yet around here. And this thing was like a week or two old. Which means they were it's like this is not relative to our space where we're at right now. And it might be the same. Like you really have we are so zone specific that you have to know Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:12

Although this is where it's coming from and when it came from there and if it's actually This was a Midwest farmer that I was saying it and I was like, Okay, well I have to because I also only have so many hours in a day and I have to get soil here and I also have like hours count, right?

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Like we're at a point control the controllables and don't stress because stress kills.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

And if you find yourself comparing your garden to one you're seeing on social media, just stop and see where they are gardening. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Because like if you're North Michigan, oh my gosh, they're still getting snow up there.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Well, and oh my god, someone recommended the other day um epic gardening, and I'm like, they're in California, they don't count for us as when it comes to timing. We're also growing dragon fruit outside, okay? I'm like, shout out to you, I love you guys, but I can't be following your timing in Indiana. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

This is true. You do have to look locally, but yeah, sometimes I do feel like people go a little bit crazy in terms of like, hold off, hold off, hold off. And I'm like, yeah, but then then you're gonna be telling me that I should have mulched yesterday. You know, like I have to you have to do it when you have the time, and that's sort of like sure, I don't want to hurt hibernating bees. That's never my goal, or hyp hibernating insects. Like, I I would hope that I don't do that, but I also I have a day job and I have a life that is very busy and garden goals. And garden goals, so they have to happen when they have time to happen.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

I think it's fair game now. Yeah, yeah. There's things yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_03 23:48

I did see a lot of bees yesterday, which is super exciting. I was like, ooh, time to put shoes on. Um yeah, they were like all going around my cutting beds when I was the worst is when the clover's out.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

Oh, yeah. We have a mandatory shoe rule when that happens because our our front yard is like all clover. Which is awesome.

SPEAKER_03 24:05

Yeah. But my backyard is like 90% violets and I love it. Yeah, we have that too. So I love it. Joey hates that they get into the garden beds, but I was like, I sort of like it. They're like it, it's fine.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

They're like a little ground cover that I didn't put there. So, yeah, so just add some goodies to your gardens before you plant the things. You will love it later, I promise.

SPEAKER_03 24:32

And if your plants are already in, you can always uh top dress or that's just a good point, give a compost tea.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Or leave it. My method is leave it. Also.

SPEAKER_03 24:42

Or leave it.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Alright, well, um see you next time. See you next time. Okay, bye. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Hey, thanks for listening to our podcast. If you want to follow us on the social, find us at the Gals Who Grow Podcast on Instagram, and follow us on Spotify or your favorite podcast app.